An Associated Press story that says a "28-year-old German is the designer of an award-winning new textile made entirely from milk that's environmentally friendly as well as soothing to people with skin allergies," caught our eye this morning — especially when we saw that the noo ... er, new ... product is called Qmilch.

That's "q" for quality and milch for milk (in German). Sounds like a winning word for Scrabble fans.

For all of us who want to know when the economy's going to get moving again and when we'll start to see some consistently healthy job growth, the conversation that opened Morning Edition today was enlightening — though not particularly encouraging.

Persistent shortages of life-saving drugs led President Obama to issue an executive order last month to try and ease what one administration official called a "dire public health situation" that has created problems for patient care.

Saying that "the occupation was coming to pose a health and fire safety hazard to the protesters and to the surrounding community," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered the clearing of Zuccotti Park early today.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York and soon protesters were pitching their tents across the country. Since then, protesters have been evicted from their campsites in Oakland, Calif., and in a number of other cities across the country.

Opponents of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, upset about the governor's move last spring to curb collective-bargaining rights for many public employees, are circulating petitions Tuesday in a campaign to recall him from office.

The Republican's critics will need to collect their signatures in the next 60 days.

A free trade agreement with the U.S. more than four years in the making is causing a big political headache for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

On Tuesday, he was scheduled to visit lawmakers in Parliament to try to persuade them to ratify the deal, a step he has never taken before over a single specific issue. Lee is also under pressure in the polls, and facing criticism over his North Korea policy.